BEWARE Auto Renewal + Lack of Support = THEFT
I took up an early renewal deal for my total security product on the 28/10/18 and was charged £23.99 for this. I received a confirmation email for this on 28/10/8. Despite renewing I continued to receive automatic emails stating that my product would expire in xx days over the coming weeks but assumed this was just automated and the system was yet to catch up. I subsequently received an email stating my product had expired on 23/11/18 however when I checked on Bitdefender Central it showed 365+ days remaining on my subscription so again ignored this. I subsequently received my credit card bill and despite paying £23.99 to renew in October I have again been charged an additional £44.96 on 22/11/2018, despite previously requesting my auto renew was switched off. NOte I received no emails or receipts informing me of this charge!
This is the second year running that despite having renewed early and having auto renew disabled I have been charged twice. Had I not checked my credit card this would not have come to light. This practice is verging on theft as no extension of subscription is auto activated you are just being charged for something you have already paid for. BEWARE
I raised this with Customer Support via the portal on 28/11/2018, chased it on 05/12/18 yet it took until 16/12/18 to receive any response. They offered an extension of my subscription but no refund. I responded to this "offer" on 16/12/18 and as I type this have chased again as still no further correspondence.
Unless I receive a response before Christmas I will contact my credit card company and ask they refund the charges.
Comments
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Hi,
Just noting here that your support ticket is currently marked as resolved. If you require any further assistance, let us know and we'll re-open the case.
Thank you!0 -
So I am not the only one who's credit card has been 'picked' for want of a better phrase.... I too canceled the auto renewal subscription way back in 2018 and yet again bitdefender has taken £39.99 from my credit card in Jan 2019
I have spent the last 6 days trying to get a refund for a product that is not on my pc and so far after 4 'ticket' webform contacts...2 chat contacts....and contacting 2co.com who do the dirty work for BD I have got nowhere
Today I have had enough and will now involve my credit card company as well as contacting trading standards and financial services authority in the UK as quite frankly this is nothing short of THEFT.0 -
On 1/9/2019 at 11:51 AM, eddy6419 said:
So I am not the only one who's credit card has been 'picked' for want of a better phrase.... I too canceled the auto renewal subscription way back in 2018 and yet again bitdefender has taken £39.99 from my credit card in Jan 2019
I have spent the last 6 days trying to get a refund for a product that is not on my pc and so far after 4 'ticket' webform contacts...2 chat contacts....and contacting 2co.com who do the dirty work for BD I have got nowhere
Today I have had enough and will now involve my credit card company as well as contacting trading standards and financial services authority in the UK as quite frankly this is nothing short of THEFT.
Hello,
The Autorenewal option is enabled by default when purchasing as to not compromise device security. At the same time, it is a widespread option in the Antivirus industry and has been implemented as a result of customer requests.
However, we understand that some users do not want this option to be active, and that's why we provide our customers with many ways to disable it:
- during the purchase process
- following automated notifications
- by contacting the support team at anytime
Also, We try to ensure maximum transparency on the Autorenewal process both through the information available at the time of purchase and through multiple email notifications before the renewal is performed. It is always the client's decision if he wants to keep the Autorenewal on or off. However, if within one year of the initial purchase the customer does not manually deactivate or does not contact us to disable it, it is reasonable to consider that the customer agrees to the Autorenewal.
Each Bitdefender product has a standard price list. Depending on the various campaigns or means of sale, discounts may apply, but the initial list price does not change. The Autorenewal is based on the initial price. However, we understand that there may be situations where the underlying price is higher than that of the last acquisition and that is why we are trying to offer our customers the opportunity to manually renew at favorable prices during the subscription period. The price at which the Autorenewal is made can be seen in automatic notifications so that any customer has the opportunity to request either the deactivation of the option or a more advantageous offer.
Even if the customer is dissatisfied with either the option or the price, we offer the possibility to fully refund the product0 -
Rubbish...if somebody has gone to the trouble of disabling automatic renewals on their account then that means any future automatic renewals.
You may also be in breach of the 'Consumer Contracts Regulations which came into force in June 2014. They state that a consumer needs to actively 'tick' a box to say they agree to any further payments (pre-ticked boxes are banned)'
I have been led a merry dance with this fiasco but rest assured, I will make it my lifes work to end this scam once and for all.1 -
Did you mean this setting?
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7 hours ago, Blauwvinger said:
Did you mean this setting?
Yes....but I see the date on mine has changed from 2018 to 2019,the subscription refers to them taking money and your av being active....as far as I'm concerned they have done this via the back door,if the customer has disabled auto renewal then that should be the end of it.
By all means send a notification that the av is about to expire and IF that person wishes to renew it they would do so.But to use another method to do it because the customer has disabled the auto renewal and removed any card details is out of order.
They pulled this trick last year charging over the top simply because I wasn't aware of the auto renewal being active,when I complained they refunded my money and at the same time I disabled the renewal option and removed my card details, I then purchased the av online at a later date for a more reasonable price...little did I know that although I had the renewal disabled it didn't apply as apparently I have been informed that I had to do it all over again via the email notification sent out just prior to taking the money,only this is by all accounts a subscription option that I had to cancel this time around because I had purchased the av again last January,unfortunately my inbox took their emails to be spam as there was more than one in quick succession and they got put into the spam box and deleted before I had the chance to read them,little did I know they were planning on taking liberties again.
As far as I am concerned this is an underhand sneaky way of taking money regardless of what the customer has opted for on their account settings,and as mentioned could also be in breach of regulations.
No matter what their excuses are,if I wanted to renew then I would have chosen to do it when I needed to at a price thats fair....£40 is not in my opinion a fair price.0 -
On 12/22/2018 at 5:44 AM, Sokkia said:
I took up an early renewal deal for my total security product on the 28/10/18 and was charged £23.99 for this. I received a confirmation email for this on 28/10/8. Despite renewing I continued to receive automatic emails stating that my product would expire in xx days over the coming weeks but assumed this was just automated and the system was yet to catch up. I subsequently received an email stating my product had expired on 23/11/18 however when I checked on Bitdefender Central it showed 365+ days remaining on my subscription so again ignored this. I subsequently received my credit card bill and despite paying £23.99 to renew in October I have again been charged an additional £44.96 on 22/11/2018, despite previously requesting my auto renew was switched off. NOte I received no emails or receipts informing me of this charge!
This is the second year running that despite having renewed early and having auto renew disabled I have been charged twice. Had I not checked my credit card this would not have come to light. This practice is verging on theft as no extension of subscription is auto activated you are just being charged for something you have already paid for. BEWARE
I raised this with Customer Support via the portal on 28/11/2018, chased it on 05/12/18 yet it took until 16/12/18 to receive any response. They offered an extension of my subscription but no refund. I responded to this "offer" on 16/12/18 and as I type this have chased again as still no further correspondence.
Unless I receive a response before Christmas I will contact my credit card company and ask they refund the charges.
This was my response to them...
Alina Paun,
Lets begin to be clear with you about this situation. Your actions and your response to this situation are completely unacceptable and irritating.
Fist of all this transaction was already brought to the attention of 2Checkout and Paypal and both of them responded that it was referred to your attention for action on the requested refund. I have no idea of what are your intention on delaying this process... but, even when this might be an insignificant amount for me or your business I'm pretty sure the organizations that regulate your business and the Federal Trade Commision should have something to say about the way you are handling it... and how others might have been affected by this scam put in place by 2Checkout on your behalf.
You should remember that before I accepted to go thru the payment process on the offer of 2Checkout I send an email to your organization stating that I didn't feel comfortable about completing the transaction with them.
From now on... and while I wait for the replacement of the money that 2Checkout took from my credit card on your behalf on a fraudulent manner... I will be taking this matter thru the channels on the FDC and the media forums related to the service you provide.
At this time I like to cancel my subscription to your product immediately and request the reimbursement of the other amount paid for the renewal offer that I accepted and authorized a payment of $22.50. Since you have access to my computer system and data... I will be considering you responsible for any attempt to hack into it from now on.
You may have a great product (that's why I choose to keep you for more than three years)... but your suspicious attention to this matter, and the questionable way in which 2Checkout intervened with our account on your behalf are unacceptable.
This communication (including your response) will be made public on all the public related forums from now on.
Sincerely,
Jaime Cosme Ortiz, PE
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This is definitely a scam... and this was my response to them...
Alina Paun,
Lets begin to be clear with you about this situation. Your actions and your response to this situation are completely unacceptable and irritating.
Fist of all this transaction was already brought to the attention of 2Checkout and Paypal and both of them responded that it was referred to your attention for action on the requested refund. I have no idea of what are your intention on delaying this process... but, even when this might be an insignificant amount for me or your business I'm pretty sure the organizations that regulate your business and the Federal Trade Commision should have something to say about the way you are handling it... and how others might have been affected by this scam put in place by 2Checkout on your behalf.
You should remember that before I accepted to go thru the payment process on the offer of 2Checkout I send an email to your organization stating that I didn't feel comfortable about completing the transaction with them.
From now on... and while I wait for the replacement of the money that 2Checkout took from my credit card on your behalf on a fraudulent manner... I will be taking this matter thru the channels on the FDC and the media forums related to the service you provide.
At this time I like to cancel my subscription to your product immediately and request the reimbursement of the other amount paid for the renewal offer that I accepted and authorized a payment of $22.50. Since you have access to my computer system and data... I will be considering you responsible for any attempt to hack into it from now on.
You may have a great product (that's why I choose to keep you for more than three years)... but your suspicious attention to this matter, and the questionable way in which 2Checkout intervened with our account on your behalf are unacceptable.
This communication (including your response) will be made public on all the public related forums from now on.
Sincerely,
Jaime Cosme Ortiz, PE
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On 1/10/2019 at 8:24 AM, Roxana G said:
Hello,
The Autorenewal option is enabled by default when purchasing as to not compromise device security. At the same time, it is a widespread option in the Antivirus industry and has been implemented as a result of customer requests.
However, we understand that some users do not want this option to be active, and that's why we provide our customers with many ways to disable it:
- during the purchase process
- following automated notifications
- by contacting the support team at anytime
Also, We try to ensure maximum transparency on the Autorenewal process both through the information available at the time of purchase and through multiple email notifications before the renewal is performed. It is always the client's decision if he wants to keep the Autorenewal on or off. However, if within one year of the initial purchase the customer does not manually deactivate or does not contact us to disable it, it is reasonable to consider that the customer agrees to the Autorenewal.
Each Bitdefender product has a standard price list. Depending on the various campaigns or means of sale, discounts may apply, but the initial list price does not change. The Autorenewal is based on the initial price. However, we understand that there may be situations where the underlying price is higher than that of the last acquisition and that is why we are trying to offer our customers the opportunity to manually renew at favorable prices during the subscription period. The price at which the Autorenewal is made can be seen in automatic notifications so that any customer has the opportunity to request either the deactivation of the option or a more advantageous offer.
Even if the customer is dissatisfied with either the option or the price, we offer the possibility to fully refund the product
######!0 -
12 hours ago, eddy6419 said:
Rubbish...if somebody has gone to the trouble of disabling automatic renewals on their account then that means any future automatic renewals.
You may also be in breach of the 'Consumer Contracts Regulations which came into force in June 2014. They state that a consumer needs to actively 'tick' a box to say they agree to any further payments (pre-ticked boxes are banned)'
I have been led a merry dance with this fiasco but rest assured, I will make it my lifes work to end this scam once and for all.
Alina Paun,
Lets begin to be clear with you about this situation. Your actions and your response to this situation are completely unacceptable and irritating.
Fist of all this transaction was already brought to the attention of 2Checkout and Paypal and both of them responded that it was referred to your attention for action on the requested refund. I have no idea of what are your intention on delaying this process... but, even when this might be an insignificant amount for me or your business I'm pretty sure the organizations that regulate your business and the Federal Trade Commision should have something to say about the way you are handling it... and how others might have been affected by this scam put in place by 2Checkout on your behalf.
You should remember that before I accepted to go thru the payment process on the offer of 2Checkout I send an email to your organization stating that I didn't feel comfortable about completing the transaction with them.
From now on... and while I wait for the replacement of the money that 2Checkout took from my credit card on your behalf on a fraudulent manner... I will be taking this matter thru the channels on the FDC and the media forums related to the service you provide.
At this time I like to cancel my subscription to your product immediately and request the reimbursement of the other amount paid for the renewal offer that I accepted and authorized a payment of $22.50. Since you have access to my computer system and data... I will be considering you responsible for any attempt to hack into it from now on.
You may have a great product (that's why I choose to keep you for more than three years)... but your suspicious attention to this matter, and the questionable way in which 2Checkout intervened with our account on your behalf are unacceptable.
This communication (including your response) will be made public on all the public related forums from now on.
Sincerely,
Jaime Cosme Ortiz, PE0 -
Same for me, no reply to any emails, and £71 taken from my account despite having already updated with a code.
PLEASE GIVE ME MY MONEY BACK!1 -
Well Alina Bizga...
Now that you have finally decided to issue the requested refund... and provide an explanation about the root of this situation... I will take some time to let you know how I feel about it.
First of all your client (or ex-client) shouldn't have to request to disable of a service that he didn't authorize (particularly one that intervene with a personal account)... no matter how many others requested.
Second, your statement that...
"The Autorenewal option is enabled by default when purchasing as to not compromise device security." doesn't hold water. My device security, and my personal account, where the fist thing compromised once this firm (2Checkout) intervened on the transaction.
Third, the speed renewal process completed (and intervention with our personal account) should have taken into consideration that I had already purchased and paid for a renewal offer. The arbitrary retirement of $88.99 from our personal account for the supposed renewal of our subscription doesn't apply in any way.
And finally... that you (or Bitdefender) ha gone a long way from the beginning to pretend downplaying the situation... and not issue immediately the requested refund... and an apology for the unauthorized intervention of 2Checkout with our personal account is unacceptable... and most probably illegal.
I'm sure this is going to take a token on the reputation of your firm... and the excellent service that your product provide.
Appreciate your insignificant offer to give your product another chance as an apology... but you still falling very short!
Let's just hope that the refund issued by you reach our account very soon (before this un easement keep growing).
Thank you,
Jaime Cosme Ortiz, PE0 -
On 1/13/2019 at 1:33 AM, Eng. Jaime Cosme said:
Hello,
The Autorenewal option is enabled by default when purchasing as to not compromise device security. At the same time, it is a widespread option in the Antivirus industry and has been implemented as a result of customer requests.
However, we understand that some users do not want this option to be active, and that's why we provide our customers with many ways to disable it:
- during the purchase process
- following automated notifications
- by contacting the support team at anytime
Also, We try to ensure maximum transparency on the Autorenewal process both through the information available at the time of purchase and through multiple email notifications before the renewal is performed. It is always the client's decision if he wants to keep the Autorenewal on or off. However, if within one year of the initial purchase the customer does not manually deactivate or does not contact us to disable it, it is reasonable to consider that the customer agrees to the Autorenewal.
Each Bitdefender product has a standard price list. Depending on the various campaigns or means of sale, discounts may apply, but the initial list price does not change. The Autorenewal is based on the initial price. However, we understand that there may be situations where the underlying price is higher than that of the last acquisition and that is why we are trying to offer our customers the opportunity to manually renew at favorable prices during the subscription period. The price at which the Autorenewal is made can be seen in automatic notifications so that any customer has the opportunity to request either the deactivation of the option or a more advantageous offer.
Even if the customer is dissatisfied with either the option or the price, we offer the possibility to fully refund the product
That is the exact same response I got,since then they are claiming Paypal have an open case against them concerning this fiasco (paypal have assured me no action was taken or is ongoing) and now it seems my emails are being ignored.
I have not activated the code they supplied at the time they took it upon themselves to sign me up,in fact their av is not even on my pc anymore.
They pulled this stunt at the end of the first year I purchased bitdefender,their excuse was then that I had not disabled the auto renewal option on my account.So I complained and eventually got a refund,at the same time I disabled the auto renewal.
I then purchased the AV cheaper a couple of weeks later via an online offer which was half the cost,that was back in early 2018, I stupidly thought that history couldn't repeat as I had disabled auto renewal,but no,as stated above it seems because I purchased it again they took the liberty of signing me up for auto subscription payment which quite frankly is against regulations in the Uk/Europe.
They seem to be using a third party as in 2co.com to do the scamming for them,tomorrow I will take it to another level,keep an eye on the BBC watchdog program,bitdefender is about to get some free advertising!0 -
Well I'm glad you received a favorable response. I was about ready to send you the money before you stroked out.0 -
Hello,
The forum is not an intended communication channel for commercial cases, we only handle technical related matters and issues here.
If you require assistance with your subscription, payment methods or renewals please use our other contact channels listed here:
https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/
This thread will now be locked.0
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